“Thank thou for everything,” Luna let out a scream of agony as the first set of teeth penetrated her soft skin.
Applejack knew that this was the end. They were trapped inside a cave with countless numbers of creatures with no other intention than ripping her into pieces. From the very beginning she’d denied it. She’d denied the death of her family, she’d denied doom and most importantly, she’d denied the truth. No longer. Applejack, last member of the apple family, had accepted her fate. She was dying here tonight.
A purple light exploded from somewhere behind her and it felt like the time stopped. It was a moment of silence while a transparent purple seemed to cover everything. No creatures growled. No weapons connected to skulls. Even the wind seemed to have stopped. Then everything happened so sudden Applejack thought she would faint from the shock.
All around her creatures combusted. Less than a second later they were ashes. Twilight had fainted behind her. Another second later she was up. She cried. She cried for almost two seconds before she galloped out of the cave with the speed of light. Applejack tried to move, but found out she couldn’t.
Over the course of an hour Applejack had lost track of how many times the sun had set and risen. After Celestia had died it had seemed that her powers were transferred to Twilight. It now seemed that Luna’s power had done the same thing too, since the cycle of day and night continued. This was just one of many things going through Applejack’s mind.
She was usually not the mare to question magic, but right now she had to think about something to keep herself distracted from the disturbingly fast change of scenery. It was starting to give her a severe headache. A regular pony just simply couldn’t handle so many sunsets and –rises in such a short time.
As if on cue to her wish, time slowed down once again until everything seemed to have frozen. With a pop, all the purple around her disappeared. Or, instead, Applejack reappeared. Everything that had happened came crashing down on her. Once again reunited with the world she’d fought the last month, she did the only equine thing to do. She vomited.
She heard a noise. She was already starting to miss the old Equestria. This new one would never give you a moment to rest. Leaving your guard down for just a second could be fatal. Applejack had done just that and now that she had no friend to take her back the only thing left was the hope of a miracle.
The earth pony quickly scanned the cave for anything she could use as a weapon. There was nothing but dust. Dust that had once been the ashes of the ponies she’d loved. Ashes of the monsters they’d become. Soon she would not have to worry about this, though. After all, the creatures had no worries.
The hoofsteps were slowly coming closer. The creature following the smell of its prey, the smell of the little gooey pile that had been inside Applejack’s stomach just mere minutes ago, was getting closer to its reward. The soft thuds turned into small clopping sounds as it entered the cave. With every clop the fear inside Applejack roused. Some miracle had saved her, Celestia knows how many days ago, but it had been all in vain.
Once again, after what felt like such a short time, the element of honesty faced a situation she had no control of. It was just a matter of seconds. Hoof to hoof combat with these things was close to impossible. You’d have to snap its neck before it got a chance to attack. The only problem was that snapping its neck would require for you to get close to the mouth.
The shadow of the creature slowly appeared on the wall. It moved closer and closer until Applejack could finally see her doom face to face. It had a well-worn and heavily ripped cloak covering its body. By the looks of it, a poor zebra had been caught by the sickness. Maybe it had spread outside Equestria?
Instead of the usual charge on sight these things used to do, it simply stopped. The creature tilted its head at the sight of Applejack. Had they mutated somehow while she had been gone? It opened its muzzle. What came next surprised Applejack the most. Instead of the growls the monsters usually let out, it spoke.
“Is this Applejack I see? But the cross outside has the name of thee.” It spoke in a lower pitch than most, but there was something familiar about it. Then, as if a light bulb would have been lit in the cowpony’s head, she realised who it was.
“Zecora?” Applejack managed to catch herself from shouting it out. Noise was dangerous in this world. “Is that really you?”
“My friend, my friend, soon shall we talk, but right now you have to come with me for a walk. My wards spotted the walkers coming this way, when they are here, is hard to say,” she whispered before turning towards the entrance of the cave.
She was much lighter on her hooves this time. Applejack tried walking with the same grace, but found herself failing miserably. Despite the purple light protecting her from the time itself, her muscles still felt like they’d been unused for months. Walking would take a few moments to get used to.
Outside of the cave were five poles struck to the ground. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Luna. The earth pony allowed for herself to pay a second of respect for her fallen friends. She took off her Stetson and held it to her chest while taking a deep bow. Afterwards she pulled up the pole that said her name. The symbol of death would be more useful as a weapon of survival when the pony it was for still walked upon Equestria.
“Hurry now, my friend, we do not want this to be our end. I know a place we can hide, follow me if you can keep up the stride,” Zecora said in her usual rhyme and winked before galloping off. Being the sporty mare she was, there was no way Applejack would let Zecora win this race.
On the top of the cliff the cave rested beneath, the silhouette of a mare observed their movements.